Improvement in lamp-shade holders



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

ALFRED H. DUFF, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAMP-SHADE HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [91,755, dated June 12, 1877 application filed May .11, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that .I, ALFRED H. DUFF, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Lamp-Shade Holders, of which the following is a specification The object of my invention is to provide a support or holder by which the ordinary'conical and other annular paper lamp-shades may be supported firmly on and around lampchimneys of difi'erent sizes and forms, and which shall at the same time be exceedingly cheap; and to this end the invention consists in two wires united in a circular form, with diverging ends attached to the upper edge of the shade, as hereinafter more fully explained.

I am aware that shade-holders of wire and of sheet metal have been made in a variety of forms for many years, and have myself been largely engaged in their manufacture and sale, and therefore my present invention is limited to the peculiar construction of the holder hereinafter explained.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my holder applied to a shade; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section through the center ofthe same; Fig. 3, a top-plan view of the holder detached.

In constructing the holder I take two pieces of wire, a, having little or no elasticity, and after bending them into a semicircular form, lap and entwine them across each other, as shown at b 1), some distance from their ends, so that together they form a circular band to surround the chimney. After being crossed the two wires on each side of the circle are bent sharply backward at c 0 toward each other, and twisted together at d, and their extremities spread apart and passed outward through the upper edge of the shade A, and bent over the same and down on the inside out of the way, as shown.

The holder thus constructed and applied may be readily seated upon and around all ordinary chimneys, and when so seated it sustains the shade steadily and firmly in position. When the shade is to be used with a chimney of an unusual size, or it is desired to sustain it at a particular elevation on the usual tapering chimney, the lapped portions of the Wire inside of the twists may be readily adjusted by the fingers, so as to enlarge or diminish the size of the circle, as required. By thus adjusting the circle the holder may be caused to sit firmly at any point on the tapering chimneys without being liable to slide upward thereon-a source of great annoyance in the use of the various spring-holders.

When the shade is to be used on chimneys of a flattened or elliptical cross-section. the central circle of the holder may be readily flattened to fit thereon 'without affecting its attachment to the shade.

While it is preferred to make the holder in the precise form shown, the twists d may be omitted, and the ends of the wire extended from the points 0 directly to the shade.

I am aware that a shade-holder consisting of a wire bent to encircle a chimney with its ends twisted together, and adapted to receive a flat shade, is old; but inasmuch as it is not adjustable in size, and is not adapted to sustain an annular chimney, it has no bearing upon my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The holder for annular lamp-shades consisting of the two wires a, curved, crossed, and twisted together, and provided with two diverging ends on each side, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In combination with an annular lamp shade, the holder consisting of the wires a, bent and united in the manner shown. and having the diverging ends passed through and folded down within the upper edge of the shade, as shown.

3. A holder for annular lamp-shades consisting of wires curved, crossed, and loosely entwined near their ends, and having their extreme ends separated, in the manner shown.

ALFRED H. DUFF.

Witnesses:

B. M. ESLER, JNo. A. BELL. 

